Humans of Shuttle Time: Reynold Rouse

Reynold Rouse – Shuttle Time Teacher
Barbados Badminton Association

Growing-Up Years
I grew up in a humble background in Black Rock, St Michael. My main sports growing up were cricket and football. I loved cricket so much as this was our number one sport on the island and I played it more than football. Growing up I knew nothing about badminton. It was not so popular during my childhood.

The first time I saw badminton, people were playing on a lawn and it was windy and blew the shuttle all around the place. I was not impressed because it was outdoors, windy and I figured I would stick to cricket. I had a chance to play badminton but continued to play cricket because I didn’t realise it was such a beautiful game at that time. However, on seeing indoor badminton I was really impressed and fell in love with it.

Since then I’ve been mainly coaching badminton. I’ve played a bit competitively but I focused mainly on coaching and managing my club.

Memorable Moments
Well, there are so many memorable events. My players have done really well. The most successful players I’ve coached are Argyle Maynard, Caroline Vaughn and Dakeil Thorpe.
I was happy when they did well at the Caribbean level and Pan American level too.
I also coached badminton overseas in Botswana. I taught there for five years and that was very rewarding too because I was successful with players going on to represent the Botswana national team. Godfrey Mathumo went on to become President of the Botswana Badminton Association and Karabo Mosweu became the Badminton junior national coach. These are memories that will last a lifetime.
What Badminton Means It keeps me fit and I can see lots of players that I developed over the years go on to play for Barbados and be successful, enjoy themselves and improve their confidence and self-esteem, and that means a lot to me.

What Makes it Different
The thing about badminton that makes it different is the three-dimensional nature of the sport. You go high, low, left and right as it’s a multi-dimensional sport. It’s amazing how quickly the players move and the tactics that are executed during a game or rally. I love the three-dimensional nature of badminton as the shuttles come from many directions and speeds and can be played by all levels of players.

Developing Badminton in the Community
I was a member of a club where badminton was based more in the city. However my school is based in the north of the island and I found that badminton wasn’t well established as it was difficult for those players from the north to attend sessions or to even play badminton where most of the badminton was being played. So my students asked me to form a club in the northern side of the island and that’s why I formed the club at my school. It’s called The West Coast Eagle Badminton Club.

Since then, badminton started to develop in the north and people are now getting a chance to learn the sport and play competitively as well.

Impact of Shuttle Time
Shuttle Time has introduced lots of persons to badminton who had never heard about it.
Students from some schools with no proper infrastructure started to play badminton under limited space and conditions. The love for the game grew so strong that they eventually joined clubs and even started it at secondary school. Shuttle Time has broadened the base of the sport which is a great thing.

Lessons from Shuttle Time
I now realise that badminton can be played at the grassroots level in places and conditions I’d never considered before. The drills and activities used accommodate different situations. People as young as four or even those older than 70 can start playing.

Finally, Shuttle Time allowed me to assist players to advance from beginner to intermediate level, and develop school and club and national players.